Colin Kaepernick, QB, San Francisco 49ers: Through a season and a half, the 49ers with head coach Jim Harbaugh and quarterback Alex Smith were one type of team -- a team with a powerful, multiple run game, a great defense, and the kind of passing game that was generally better at maintaining a lead than fighting back from an extreme deficit. Smith was a good enough quarterback, but the 49ers knew that they couldn't expect a heavy diet of explosive plays. That changed when Kaepernick, the second-year prop from Nevada, usurped Smith after the veteran suffered a concussion against the St. Louis Rams in early November. Kaepernick proved that he had the arm, mobility, and game acumen to give his team a new element for opposing defenses to worry about. [ Related: Colin Kaepernick further validates Jim Harbaugh's decision to start him ] Never was that more apparent than in San Francisco's 41-34 Sunday Night Football win over the New England Patriots. Kaepernick threw four touchdown passes to three different receivers, and added 28 yards rushing to befuddle a Patriots defense that knew what it was dealing with in Kaepernick ... and was unable to stop it. Kaepernick will have obvious...

This site is neither endorsed, nor sponsored by, nor affiliated with San Francisco 49ers or NFL Properties LLC. 49ers is a registered trademark of the San Francisco 49ers LLC. All teams and players mentioned are registered trademarks of the NFL and its respective teams. The use of any team names, words, trademarks, logos or photos have been used for descriptive purposes only. The content and information from other sites is the property of their respective owners. Player and team photos used with permission from USA TODAY Sports Images.